How Do You Care for a Farm Piglet?

Caring for a piglet on a farm requires attention to the piglet's housing, diet and health. Piglets need warm housing while they are weaned. For their first week of life they should stay at around 95 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that should come down about five degrees per week until they stop nursing. After this point, pigs should have access to both outdoor space and shelter.

If you're raising pigs in a region that gets colder than about 60 degrees Fahrenheit in the winter, install heat in their shelter area so they can stay warm. In the summer, pigs need wet mud to wallow in to stay cool. Piglets require about 16 square feet of space each in a shelter.

Piglets transitioning from nursing should eat "creep feed," a blend of grains such as oats and barley and other ingredients. Creep feed helps them put on weight and eat more in later life. Piglets should also have constant access to clean water for drinking.

Piglets should receive vaccinations recommended by a local veterinarian and should have limited contact with other animals to avoid contracting diseases. They may be susceptible to worm infections, which can be eased with commercial de-worming medication or by having the pigs eat fresh garlic.